|
Chihuahuas
In the course of each year roughly 28,000 Chihuahuas are registered with AKC. Of this number, only about 1-2% are registered by active AKC breeder/exhibitors. Unfortunately, it seems like that makes our voice the minority when it comes to the purity of the stud book, historically the main focus of the AKC. According to respected geneticists, Dr Malcolm Willis among them, merle did NOT mutate in the Chihuahua breed; other breeds were added to create this variation. Why ? Was the Chihuahua too free of life altering defects that some thought we should have our fair share? Was cash the motivation? Consider that many are marketing merle puppies as a rare deviation of the breed norm at prices often higher than those asked for excellent show prospects from active AKC show breeders. Many of these merle Chihuahuas are very poor representatives of the breed, when compared with the breed standard. Why? Well that's what happens when dogs are cross bred. You get some that look like the breed and others that look like the breed that was used in crossing. Sadly they are all being registered as Chihuahuas. Some of those same breeders are not concerned as they claim after 4 generations they are purebred. I and many others were under the impression that you had to ask AKC's permission to crossbreed for the improvement of the breed, as was granted for example, to the Basenjis. Continuing registrations of these merle dogs say otherwise. When one looks at the current trend in designer mutts and how popular they are with the pet buying public it seems that the AKC would be more concerned about losing registrations because no one registers mutts or do they? Consider what has happened with the Pug, Cocker and Poodle. Brindles have recently been added to the "rare" colors and are being registered. Merle Cockers have recently appeared as well as merle Poodles and Min Pins! Why is this cross breeding and registering as purebreds being allowed? This is a question one must ask AKC. In the breeds that are traditionally merle they have limited the colors so that the dogs can be bred in a healthy and humane manner. Merle is perfectly acceptable in these breeds and education is available in those breeds. It is part of their breed type. Sadly no one knows how merle will affect the gene pool of the Chihuahua with its allowance of all colors. Also the effect on type, mainly the saucy expression called for in the standard, all but disappears when one is confronted with the cold blue eyed stare of a merle. Of special concern, some geneticists have suggested that mixing the piebald gene and the merle gene is likely to cause the same defects as merle to merle breeding, one of the worst being pigmentation deafness. The problem here is that some cannot differentiate the piebald from other spotting genes. According to Dr George Strain merle and piebald dogs with blue eyes are 50% more likely to be deaf. Other studies conducted with dapple dachshunds, [another breed that allows several color choices] have confirmed that single merles can and do have the same defects as their double merle counterparts. What will happen with the defective puppies? Are they bucket fodder or will these reproducers pass these defective dogs off on the pet buying public? Rescue operations are already over loaded with our breed and sadly, this can only add dogs to their ranks. All this being said why would anyone add this to a gene pool where it had never existed? To improve the breed? Because they are bored with all the other lovely color variations that can exist in the Chihuahua without defects? These are things one must ask before undertaking the breeding of this pattern and claiming it to be a pleasant color variant. It's still not much of a reason to want to cross breed. There is no breed improvement going on with the addition of this pattern. Some will claim bad patellas are the worst problem in our breed. While that is a concern even a bad patella can be surgically corrected to give the dog quality of life. It is also possible to breed away from this trait. Deafness is a permanent defective feature and part and parcel of the merle gene and its pigment reducing characteristics. Most of the breeders involved with merle Chihuahuas have not bred quality dogs before taking on this pattern. How can they expect to take a cross breed and bring it up to the standard that exists in today's show ring? One would hope judges would not put up for breed points or breed themselves poor specimens merely because one wants to see this pattern flourish in a breed where it has not existed or because they are in it for the monetary gain. Several countries including Germany and Australia have either banned or refused the registrations of merle Chihuahuas. The UK and South Africa are now discussing the situation. Many in other countries believe adding this pattern while allowing all colors will bring with it many defects while playing into the hands of Animal Rights Activists who want to ban breeding altogether because people are purposely breeding dogs together that can have known defects. Are these breeders more involved than their American counterparts or did they have a big heads up by watching all this merle cross breeding unfold in this country? In the future reputable breeders may have to resort to expensive genetictesting to insure they are not adding this pattern to their lines when one considers that with all the colors allowed there is more of a chance to have the phantom or hidden merles. For now the lines have been drawn in the sand and for most concerned Chihuahua breeders no merles bred here will be a badge of honor and commitment to a breed that does not need this pattern or its known defects. Any color marked or splashed should not mean any breed you want to add. -Gloria
Lambert
|